Election Result

New Margin: LIB 13.3%

MP

Terry Mulder (LIB) since 1999.

Profile

The electorate of Polwarth lies to the west and south-west of Geelong and covers 11,008 square kilometres. It runs along the Great Ocean Road from Anglesea round Cape Otway to Peterborough, taking in Aireys Inlet, Lorne, Apollo Bay and Port Campbell. Further inland, the electorate includes Winchelsea, Colac, Camperdown and Terang along the Princes Highway, and Inverleigh, Cressy, Lismore and Mortlake on the Hamilton Highway. The electorate includes the Otway Range and Lake Corangamite.

History/Trivia

Polwarth has existed since 1889 and has always been a conservative seat, held by the Liberal Party since 1949. Former members include Ian Smith from 1985-99, returning to state politics after attempting to start a Federal career. Always a controversial MP, Smith was seen as a future leader of the Party in his early, but managed in his time to be sacked from both the Hamer and Kennett cabinets. Smith had previously served as MP for Warrnambool 1967-83, and it was his comments to a local paper that Liberal MPs were 'numb with fright' at the thought of Dick Hamer leading them to the 1982 election that led to Hamer being dumped as Premier. Smith's dumping from the Kennett government came when the salacious details of an extra-marital affair became public. On Smith's retirement in 1999, the National Party contested the seat, nominating well-known former Geelong footballer, Brownlow medallist and TV football commentator Paul Couch. He polled a disappointing 16.6% but still could have won the seat, but failed to pass the Labor candidate after a poor flow of preferences from the Greens and an Independent. Liberal MP Terry Mulder has had little difficulty winning re-election since 1999.

2-Party Booth Result

The Liberal Party recorded majorities in 36 of the 45 booths used at the 2006 election, its vote rising from 35.6% at Aireys Inlet Community Centre to 89.4% at Ecklin Hall. The Liberal vote was above 70% in 13 booths.

Aged 58, Mulder was the managing director of Terence's Cleaning and Property Maintenance Services, a large employer in regional Victoria, before his election to Parliament in 1999. Previous employment included working as a quality assurance consultant, an owner/trainer with the Victoria Racing Club, and he also helped found the Colac-Otway Business and Retailers Association. He has also supported the local community by supplying thousands of dollars worth of musical instruments to the Trinity College Band in Colac. He served as Shadow Minister for Transport 2002-06 and has been Shadow Minister for Public Transport and Roads since 2006. Mulder has been the name most mentioed as an alternative Liberal leader to Ted Baileau.

Crook is a teacher at Colac's Holy Trinity College where he leads the school’s Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning course, which helps non-academically inclined students achieve in a setting that combines school with practical workplace experience. He is the father of six children and was first elected to local Colac-Otway Shire in March 2002, but was removed from his post in December 2007 along with two other councillors for failing to remain at a Call of the Council meeting regarding a controversial planning amendment in Apollo Bay. He received community reinstatment when returned to the Council at the November 2008 council elections. During the 1990s, Crook and his wife ran a mixed business and bus hire business in Colac. In that period he twice contested the state seat of Polwarth as an Independent, polling 18.6% in 1996 and 14.8% in 1999.